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Living wage
Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:47pm
Tue May 21

Unite Here Workers Oppose Pritzker Nomination For Commerce Secretary

Senate confirmation hearings for Chicago billionaire Penny Pritzker’s nomination for U.S. Secretary of Commerce are scheduled for Thursday, but workers from the her family-owned hotel chain are already voicing their opposition to the selection.

“This is not somebody we want in Washington; this is a lady whose business model hurts workers,” said Demetrius Jackson, 25, a lifelong Chicagoan and convention service houseman at the Hyatt Regency Chicago for six years.

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
4:46pm
Tue May 14

Workers, Aldermen Want Emanuel To Push Controversial O'Hare Contractor To Recognize Janitors' Desire For SEIU Representation (VIDEO) (UPDATED)

After more than 70 percent of O’Hare’s recently hired janitors voted in favor of SEIU* Local 1 union representation, a small group of workers gathered with supporting aldermen at City Hall Tuesday to urge Mayor Rahm Emanuel to push the contractor to recognize the union.

“In a climate where everybody is trying to figure out how to squeeze the bottom line, the only way to protect workers is to have union representation,” said Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) in an interview with Progress Illinois.

Munoz said contractors, such as the O’Hare janitors’ employer, United Maintenance, Inc., are “squeezing wages.”

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Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
8:35pm
Mon Apr 29
2 comments

LifeSource Phlebotomists Seek Union Representation, Cite 'Rough' Working Conditions (VIDEO)

Phlebotomists employed by LifeSource are being forced to work long hours for little pay, according to one worker who spoke to the need for union representation at the Thompson Center in Chicago today.

Tiffany Walker, 41, is one of 160 LifeSource phlebotomists being provided the opportunity to vote Friday to join the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), Local 881.

“We haven’t had a voice for a very long time,” said Walker, an Auburn-Gresham resident and LifeSource phlebotomist of five years.

“If we get union representation, maybe we’ll be able to stand up and speak for ourselves, and hopefully change some of our rough work conditions and make a living wage.”

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PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
10:34am
Thu Apr 25

Hundreds Strike For Higher Wages In Chicago's Fast Food And Retail Industries (VIDEO)

Economy

It’s impossible to survive on $8.75 per hour, says Latasha Anderson, 31, an employee of Macy’s on Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago. She was one of three retail associates from her store to participate yesterday in a citywide fast food and retail workers’ strike that prompted hundreds of employees to walk off the job.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
2:05pm
Fri Apr 19

UIC Graduate Workers Hold Strike Authorization Vote

Graduate workers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are voting on whether or not to authorize a strike after negotiations with university officials over a living wage fell short of their demands Wednesday night, according to members of the Graduate Employees Organization.

The voting process to authorize a possible strike began Thursday and will continue through Monday, which is the end of the union's next bargaining session with UIC's administration.

“I don’t think most of our members want to strike," said Neri Sandoval, a graduate assistant in UIC's Department of African-American Studies. "I think it’s something that, I believe, is an outcome of a series of events the university has led to."

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